News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: LTE(2): Showing The White Flag In Drug Wars |
| Title: | CN BC: LTE(2): Showing The White Flag In Drug Wars |
| Published On: | 2000-09-20 |
| Source: | Vancouver Sun (CN BC) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 08:13:09 |
SHOWING THE WHITE FLAG IN DRUG WARS
To the proponents of drug legalization, I ask: "Which drugs?" Cocaine is known to cause irreversible brain damage and psychosis, and another name for crack is "More," meaning too much is never enough. Is it moral or logical for governments to sue tobacco companies on one hand and unleash a more terrifying beast with the other?
Following the Opium War, opium became widely available in China. As a direct result, generations were lost and millions of families devastated. Today, Dan Gardner is proposing that Canada legalize heroin, a substance 100 times more potent than opium. Thus, heroin use would no longer be stigmatized, and users would be as common as cigarette smokers.
The American model failed because of over-emphasis on punishment and not enough on recovery and support. We need a national effort to curb drug use via law enforcement, and treatment backed up by extensive programs of post-withdrawal support, including housing and employment
These programs will be expensive, but it would be worth every penny because every single one of the "walking dead" Dan Gardner referred to is precious.
Charles Lee, Pharmacist
Vice-Chair
Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association
To legalize illegal substances is to fly the white flag in the face of an assault on society by those who use, and deal in, illicit drugs. A change in the laws to satisfy the law-breakers is being advocated.
This approach is increasingly typical of mass media opinion writers -- acquiescence to accommodating the users of illegal drugs. Nowhere is mentioned personal responsibility for the decisions made by users.
The just-released health report that identifies alcohol as the most abused substance simply confirms that substances legitimized by society have the highest abuse rates. To add more addictive substances to the mix means more traffic accidents, domestic violence and work site mishaps, and higher health care costs. Whose rights really will be trashed?
Ken Lane
Canadian Communities Against Substance Abuse
To the proponents of drug legalization, I ask: "Which drugs?" Cocaine is known to cause irreversible brain damage and psychosis, and another name for crack is "More," meaning too much is never enough. Is it moral or logical for governments to sue tobacco companies on one hand and unleash a more terrifying beast with the other?
Following the Opium War, opium became widely available in China. As a direct result, generations were lost and millions of families devastated. Today, Dan Gardner is proposing that Canada legalize heroin, a substance 100 times more potent than opium. Thus, heroin use would no longer be stigmatized, and users would be as common as cigarette smokers.
The American model failed because of over-emphasis on punishment and not enough on recovery and support. We need a national effort to curb drug use via law enforcement, and treatment backed up by extensive programs of post-withdrawal support, including housing and employment
These programs will be expensive, but it would be worth every penny because every single one of the "walking dead" Dan Gardner referred to is precious.
Charles Lee, Pharmacist
Vice-Chair
Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association
To legalize illegal substances is to fly the white flag in the face of an assault on society by those who use, and deal in, illicit drugs. A change in the laws to satisfy the law-breakers is being advocated.
This approach is increasingly typical of mass media opinion writers -- acquiescence to accommodating the users of illegal drugs. Nowhere is mentioned personal responsibility for the decisions made by users.
The just-released health report that identifies alcohol as the most abused substance simply confirms that substances legitimized by society have the highest abuse rates. To add more addictive substances to the mix means more traffic accidents, domestic violence and work site mishaps, and higher health care costs. Whose rights really will be trashed?
Ken Lane
Canadian Communities Against Substance Abuse
Member Comments |
No member comments available...
